Rescue me
by cein
Summary: Part 7 - Napoleon has some unfinished business to attend to.
1. Rescue me chapter 1

Rescue Me - 01/07  
  
As usual when returning to the deserted building that housed their observation post, Napoleon took an indirect route, dodging down alleyways and changing direction every few minutes, just in case he had picked up a tail. In his hands was a package of vital importance...one that Napoleon knew had to be delivered safely for fear of dire consequences. Failure to deliver it intact...well, that was not an option.   
  
The package itself didn't seem to weigh that much as Napoleon shifted it from one hand to the other, and to outward appearances it seemed innocent enough, surely not deserving of the care that he was taking with it, but Napoleon knew just how vital the contents were to the success of his mission...after all, Napoleon smiled to himself as he caught the scent of freshly made sandwiches arising from the package, after all, Illya tended to get very cranky indeed if he didn't get fed regularly while listening in on their surveillance equipment. And a cranky Illya was not something he wished to face under any circumstances.   
  
Not that that thought made him any the more hasty in returning. He just strolled along casually, as if he hadn't a care in the world, all the while keeping a discreet eye out for people taking too much of an interest in him. This air of casualness lasted only until he rounded the final corner and saw smoke and flames pouring out of the building.  
  
Dropping the package, Napoleon pushed his way through the crowd, which had already started forming to gaze at the unfolding conflagration. A police officer stopped him at the foot of the steps to the front door. "Now then sonny," he said, "The fire department will be here in a few minutes and they'll soon have everything under control. Sure and isn't it an empty building anyway."  
  
"Let me through," said Napoleon urgently. "My friend is in there..." Pushing the police officer aside, he ran up the steps, slamming the front door open. A part of his mind noted that it should have been locked and filed it away for future reference, but once inside, all thoughts of doors and locks were swept from his mind. Inside was an inferno the likes of which Napoleon had never seen before. Smoke billowed through the hallway and every stick of furniture seemed to be burning furiously. "Illya!" yelled Napoleon, starting to cough as the smoke seeped into his lungs. He stumbled towards the staircase, which was already alight, but before he could reach it, there was an almighty groan and the timbers, which had been fragile enough before the fire collapsed in on themselves in a tangled heap of burning rubble. Napoleon looked around him frantically for another means of reaching the next levels but the smoke was beginning to thicken. He knew that if he got through to the kitchen and into the back yard then there was probably a ladder or a drainpipe or something that he could use to climb upstairs, but he couldn't see it through the flames and smoke. His eyes watering from the heat and smoke, he tried to find his way back to the front door but his head was spinning and he could barely breath. "Illya," he gasped as his vision started to blur. "Illya..."  
  
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	2. Rescue me chapter 2

TITLE: Rescue me  
  
Chapter 02  
  
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh  
  
EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net   
  
CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen  
  
WARNING: none  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
SPOILERS: none  
  
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them  
  
Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.  
  
Part 02/07  
  
Napoleon could feel a strong pair of arms grabbing him and dragging him to his feet. He stumbled in the direction they steered him, his eyes streaming from smoke irritation. It felt like a lifetime, but it was only a few seconds later when he found himself sitting outside on the pavement, sucking in the precious life giving air and coughing the smoke from his lungs.  
  
"You okay there now boyo?" asked the police officer, looking considerably more soot stained than he had been before dragging Napoleon out of the burning house. "I told you to leave this to the firemen." He glanced up at the sound of approaching sirens. "See? Here they are now and they'll get your friend out of there as soon as they can." He paused before asking, "You *are* sure that he was in there, I mean this place hasn't been occupied for as long I can remember." There was an air of suspicion in his voice. "Leastways not for any legitimate purpose."  
  
"He was there," rasped Napoleon, his throat feeling as if he'd swallowed razor blades. He fumbled at the inside pocket of his coat with shaking hands and pulled out his ID card. "I work for the U.N.C.L.E..." A coughing fit overtook him before he could continue, "We both do...he was in there...he's still in there...we have to get him out..." Napoleon tried to push himself to his feet but the policeman pushed him back down again. "So you're one of Mr. Waverly's boys, eh? Well don't worry, we'll get your buddy out of there." He nodded towards the man who was climbing out of the fire truck. "See that guy over there? That's Mack Stevens, Chief of the fifty-first. You tell him that your buddy is in there and he'll get him out for you." He pulled Napoleon to his feet and gently pushed him towards the fire chief who was bellowing orders.   
  
"Chief?" said Napoleon, in between fits of coughing. "My friend..." He pointed towards the conflagration. "He...he's still in there." A spasm of coughing overtook him and he bent double feeling as if his lungs were going to end up on the pavement.   
  
Chief Stevens took him by the shoulder and asked, "Where about in the building is he? Is there anybody else in there?"   
  
"Third...third floor," rasped Napoleon. "Back bedroom..." He swayed slightly but managed to remain standing. "You have to get him..." He took a deep breath before continuing, "There shouldn't...shouldn't be anybody else in there."  
  
"We'll get him out," said the Chief reassuringly. Turning away from Napoleon he yelled at his men, "Okay, we've got reports of one person in the building, top floor, so we're gonna need ladders."  
  
Napoleon felt somebody pat him on the shoulder and he turned to see the police officer.  
  
"Mack's team is the best there is...they'll get him out okay. You just leave the heroics to them, that's what they get paid for. Besides, maybe he snuck outside for a bit of fresh air, you ever think of that? Maybe you should try him on one of those radio thingies that you guys are always carrying around."  
  
"Not Illya," said Napoleon, shaking his head. "He wouldn't leave his post, Officer..." He squinted to make out the nametag on the police officer's chest. "Officer Clancy."  
  
"Well, it can't do any harm to try now, can it laddie?"  
  
Napoleon wasn't particularly convinced, but it was worth a try. His hands were clumsy as he pulled the cap off the communicator and he realized that he had picked up a few scrapes and burns during his excursion into the flames. Not that that mattered...nothing mattered except finding Illya. "Open Channel K," he said urgently. "Illya, come in. Illya, can you hear me?" He kept trying until he heard a yell from the crowd that were watching the ladders go up. Napoleon immediately started pushing his way through the throng, but met with little success until Clancy appeared again. The crowd seemed to melt away in front of him as he led Napoleon towards the ladders.   
  
Finally he got to a clear space and saw a fireman climbing down the ladder carrying something over his shoulder.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
To be continued 


	3. Rescue me chapter 3

TITLE: Rescue me  
  
Chapter 03  
  
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh  
  
EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net   
  
CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen  
  
WARNING: none  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
SPOILERS: none  
  
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them  
  
Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.  
  
Part 03/07  
  
Napoleon squinted painfully but he couldn't make out who the fireman was carrying...he was barely able to tell that it was a person. "It has to be Illya," he told himself. "There was nobody else in the building." But what about the person who had set the fire, a little voice asked him. What if it was them being rescued and Illya was there dead or dying from smoke and flames. Napoleon put the thought resolutely out of his mind as he watched the fireman make his way down the ladder, willing him to hurry.  
  
The fireman reached the bottom of the ladder...his burden hardly seeming to slow him down. Napoleon wanted to move towards him...to see if it was indeed his friend that had been snatched from the flames, but even as he took a step forward, he could hear a horrendous creaking coming from the burning building and his eye was drawn to the window from which the fireman had emerged...and which was now totally obscured by smoke and flames. If there had been anybody left in the building, they were surely now dead.  
  
"Go on there now boyo," said Clancy, gently. "If it's your friend then he'll be wanting to see you."   
  
The fireman had carried his charge over to the ambulance, which had joined the scene and Napoleon joined them there. A wave of his U.N.C.L.E. ID swept aside any objections to his passage...or maybe it was the look of determination on his face...mingled with a touch of fear at what he might find. He knew how badly he had been affected by only a few short minutes inside the blaze, and Illya had been trapped inside for much much longer. A part of Napoleon was afraid to look...afraid to see how badly maimed his friend could be...another part of him was afraid that it wouldn't be Illya...that his partner was still trapped in the flames, waiting for help that could no longer come. Steeling himself for the inevitable, Napoleon took a good look inside the ambulance.  
  
At first all he could see was a small figure blackened from the smoke, lying on a stretcher. An oxygen mask was obscuring the soot-stained face and the hair was so grimy that only a few strands of blond shone through. But Napoleon had always been able to see through Illya's disguises and he sagged against the ambulance door, watching as the medics tried to revive his friend.   
  
Finally after what seemed like an eternity, the medic straightened up and announced, "I've got a pulse. Let's get moving." Seeing Napoleon he said, "Sir, you'll have to move aside, we need to get this man to the hospital immediately."  
  
"I'm coming with him," said Napoleon, hoarsely. "He's a friend of mine." He coughed again, his lungs wheezing in protest.  
  
The medic took a closer look at Napoleon in his smoke blackened suit. "Were you inside the building during the fire?"  
  
Napoleon nodded as another spasm of coughing overtook him. He could feel the ground swaying under his feet as he clutched the door of the ambulance for support. "Won't...won't leave him again," he gasped.  
  
"Okay," said the medic reassuringly. "You probably should get yourself checked out as well. Sounds like you took in a few lungfuls of smoke yourself."   
  
Napoleon allowed the medic to help him into the ambulance and place an oxygen mask over his face. "Just breathe normally," he was told, "We'll be at the hospital in a few minutes."  
  
Napoleon glanced out the ambulance door, wondering where Clancy had disappeared to. He thought he saw the blue uniform keeping the crowd back from the flames, but then the ambulance doors cut off the outside world leaving him alone with Illya and the medic.   
  
"Will he...is he going to be all right?" asked Napoleon, his voice hoarse.  
  
The medic was adjusting the I.V. line and it was a few seconds before he replied, "He's taken in a lot of smoke...wasn't breathing when they carried him out." He saw the look of horror on Napoleon's face and added quickly, "Don't worry, we got him back quick enough."  
  
Napoleon reached out his hand to Illya's, which was clenched tightly in a fist as it lay on the stretcher beside him. He could see that there was something held firmly in his grasp, and with a gasp of shock, Napoleon realized that it was Illya's communicator. Had he been calling for help on it before being overcome by the smoke? Had he heard Napoleon's attempts to contact him but been unable to respond? Or had he lost consciousness wondering just why his partner hadn't been there when he had needed him.   
  
Napoleon's vision blurred, but it wasn't caused by irritation from the smoke.  
  
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	4. Rescue me chapter 4

TITLE: Rescue me  
  
Chapter 04  
  
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh  
  
EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net   
  
CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen  
  
WARNING: none  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
SPOILERS: none  
  
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them  
  
Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.  
  
Part 04/07  
  
"Some Chinese food would be nice," said Illya, his headphones hanging round his neck as he took a break from listening to the bugs that he had planted the previous night. "Perhaps some steamed shrimp dumplings, Cashew Chicken Stir Fry, or maybe some Shredded pork with Stir-fried noodles and Spicy Wonton."  
  
"I noticed a very nice deli only a few blocks away," said Napoleon as he pulled on his coat. He had lost the coin toss deciding who would go and fetch lunch but he was determined to win the choice of where to get it. "Some freshly made sandwiches would be just as tasty...and less messy than eating with the chopsticks you always insist on."  
  
"The Chinese restaurant is only two blocks away...the nearest deli was at least twice that distance," replied Illya stubbornly. "Let me guess, there was a pretty counter assistant working there, no?"  
  
"No," said Napoleon, an air of injured innocence in his voice. "Actually she was working the cash register." He saw Illya roll his eyes. "C'mon Illya, heads I go to the deli, tails I get you your stir fry."   
  
Illya had eyed him with a suspicious air, but had agreed.  
  
"If only I had lost that toss," thought Napoleon as he sat by Illya's bedside. The deli had indeed been several blocks further away, and not only that, but Napoleon knew that he wouldn't have spent as much time conversing with the swarthy man behind the counter at the Chinese takeaway as he had with the pretty young deli assistant. He could have returned to the building in half the time, and even if he had still been too late to prevent the fire from starting, he would have surely been able to get Illya out before he had succumbed to the smoke.   
  
On reaching the hospital, Napoleon had reluctantly allowed a doctor to check out his own injuries while Illya had been whisked away to be seen by the specialists. Mild smoke inhalation and a few first-degree burns had been Napoleon's verdict. The doctor had wanted to admit him overnight for observation, but Napoleon had refused. All he wanted was to find out how Illya was and when he was going to wake up. Checking in with headquarters, he had been informed that agents had been dispatched to check out the scene of the blaze for clues to its origin. He had also found out that the THRUSH scientist whom he and Illya had been listening in to had made a sudden departure soon after the fire had started. Not that Napoleon really cared where the man had disappeared to, nothing like that mattered...not now, not until he knew Illya was going to be all right.  
  
It was probably just as well that the nurses on Illya's ward had been informed of Napoleon's identity and connection to their patient, as he was in no mood to turn his usual charm upon them in order to gain access to Illya's room.   
  
But now, as on many previous occasions, it was a case of just sitting and waiting for Illya to regain consciousness. As always though, there was the fear at the back of Napoleon's mind that this time it wouldn't happen...that maybe this time his injuries would prove more than he could take. Napoleon swallowed hard and tried to pretend that the lump in his throat was an after effect of the smoke he had inhaled. It didn't make it any easier to hear the hiss of the ventilator as it forced the air into Illya's lungs...  
  
Illya's doctor had assured Napoleon that everything possible had been done for his partner and that all they could do now was wait and see if his body would prove strong enough to survive. His minor burns had been treated, he was being monitored closely, but from here on it it was a waiting game. So all Napoleon could do was sit and wait and toy idly with the communicator he had taken from Illya in the ambulance. It was almost as battered and smoke stained as its owner, but amazingly was still functioning. Napoleon could only hope that Illya would be as resilient.  
  
---------------------------  
  
To be continued 


	5. Rescue me chapter 5

TITLE: Rescue me  
  
Chapter 05  
  
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh  
  
EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net   
  
CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen  
  
WARNING: none  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
SPOILERS: none  
  
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them  
  
Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.  
  
Part 05/07  
  
Hours had passed while Napoleon sat in vigil. The nurses came and checked on Illya's vital signs on a regular basis but there was little change.   
  
They had cleaned up their patient as best as they could, but there were still traces of soot and smoke in his hair and on his body...the smell of the smoke almost overwhelmed the usual antiseptic hospital smell that both Napoleon and Illya had grown accustomed to over the years.   
  
But one thing Napoleon had never grown accustomed to was the slight twinge of fear that he felt every time he had to wait in a hospital. He had spent way too many hours in the limbo of hospital waiting rooms waiting anxiously for a patient to recover...or not. Far too many hours had been spent waiting for Illya, although he knew that his partner had spent his fair share of times wearing a hole in the hospitals carpets.  
  
Several more hours had passed and the nurses had started to discreetly hint to Napoleon that perhaps he should consider going home for some rest, or at least down to the hospital canteen for something to eat. The thought of food nearly made him sick even though he had not eaten for several hours before the fire, but his body had other requirements that he couldn't afford to ignore.   
  
"I'll be back in a few minutes," Napoleon told Illya's unconscious form before heading in search of the toilets.   
  
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After washing his hands, Napoleon splashed some cold water on his face hoping to revive himself a little. He knew that the nurses were right, staying at the hospital wasn't going to help Illya's recovery, and he would be better off going home and resting for a few hours. But it felt like he would be abandoning his partner for a second time.   
  
Returning to Illya's room, Napoleon was no closer to reaching a decision...but when he saw the medical staff surrounding his partner's bed, he knew that matters had been taken out of his hands yet again.  
  
------------------------  
  
To be continued 


	6. Rescue me chapter 6

TITLE: Rescue me  
  
Chapter 06  
  
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh  
  
EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net   
  
CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen  
  
WARNING: none  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
SPOILERS: none  
  
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them  
  
Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.  
  
Part 06/07  
  
Once again Napoleon had to fight his way through a crowd to reach Illya's side dreading what he would find when he got there.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked the doctor, almost afraid to hear the answer.  
  
The doctor had his back to Napoleon and was bending over his patient, apparently listening to Illya's chest with the stethoscope. It was a few seconds before he straightened up and answered Napoleon. "It appears that Mr. Kuryakin did not appreciate waking up with a tube stuck down his throat and managed to set off a few alarms by trying to remove it. Fortunately the nurses managed to persuade him to wait until I was able to remove it properly."  
  
"He's awake?" Napoleon couldn't hide the flood of relief that washed over his face. He looked down at Illya and realized that the tube was indeed gone from his throat. As Napoleon watched, Illya's eyes flickered open and a very weak smile appeared on his face. "Hey!" he mumbled weakly. "You...you look a mess..."  
  
"Look who's talking," said Napoleon, unable to keep from smiling. He glanced back at the doctor. "Will he..."  
  
"There's no reason why he shouldn't make a full recovery," said the doctor, returning Napoleon's smile. "But he's going to need a lot of rest. I can let you have five minutes with him now, but that's all." The doctor looked Napoleon up and down. "And you should go and rest as well. I don't want you collapsing from exhaustion."  
  
Napoleon barely heard the doctor leave; he was so focused on Illya. "Hey there partner. How do you feel?"  
  
Illya seemed to consider the question for a moment before replying, "Hungry...don't...don't suppose you still have my lunch?"  
  
Napoleon shook his head, "Damn, I knew there was something I was meant to do."  
  
Illya sighed softly, "You....you probably had ketchup on it anyway..." He smiled thinly, his eyes half closing for a few seconds before he forced them open, "The...the fire..."  
  
"Mr. Waverly sent a team to investigate it," said Napoleon, "They think it might have been an incendiary device."  
  
Illya nodded slowly, "Lot of noise...tried...tried the door...smoke...smoke everywhere..." His eyes closed and Napoleon almost thought he'd fallen asleep when they flickered open again. "You...are you all right? Didn't...didn't get burned?"  
  
"I'm fine Illya," said Napoleon. "I wasn't..." He swallowed hard. "I wasn't there Illya...by the time I got back...the fire..." He hung his head, unable to look Illya in the face. "I should have been there, to watch your back." He felt Illya's hand touch his gently and looked up.  
  
"Don't...not your fault..." Illya coughed slightly before continuing. "Getting lunch...just as important..." He managed a slightly stronger smile this time. "You were there...there when you were needed...you always are..." His eyes closed and this time stayed shut.   
  
Napoleon tensed up slightly, but Illya's breathing had settled into a more regular pattern and he seemed to have simply fallen asleep. "And you're always there when *I* need you," he said softly.   
  
----------------------------  
  
to be continued 


	7. Rescue me chapter 7

TITLE: Rescue me  
  
Chapter 07  
  
AUTHOR: Ceindreadh  
  
EMAIL: ceindreadh@eircom.net   
  
CATEGORY: drama/angst/gen  
  
WARNING: none  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
SPOILERS: none  
  
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to Norman Felton and Warner Bros when I've finished with them  
  
Thanks to FatCat and Kelly for Betaing this for me.  
  
Part 07/07  
  
Napoleon made his way out of the hospital, unable to keep the smile off his face. He had spoken to the doctor and had been assured again that Illya should make a full recovery. Not that Napoleon would be fully satisfied until Illya was up and about again, but he had been sufficiently convinced that Illya would be in good hands for the next few hours while he attended to some unfinished business.  
  
"Excuse me," said Napoleon to the man who was busily tidying up the inside of the ambulance. "Dispatch said that I'd find you here."  
  
"Can I help you?"   
  
"You already did," replied Napoleon. "Yesterday...you brought my friend and I in after a fire. You saved his life."  
  
The man looked at him blankly for a few seconds before recognition dawned on his face. "The smoke inhalation, right? Little guy with blond hair. How's he doing?"  
  
"The doctor says he's going to be fine, but if it hadn't been for you...I just...I just wanted to thank you."   
  
The medic shrugged easily, "Just doing my job. Heck, those firefighters are the guys you really need to thank. If they'd been just a few minutes slower in getting him out, well there wouldn't have been much *I* could have done." He climbed down out of the ambulance and slammed the door shut. "But I'm glad your buddy's going to be okay. Just tell him to stay out of burning buildings in future!"  
  
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Somebody who had no immediate plans to stay out of burning buildings was the firefighter at the fifty-first, which was Napoleon's next port of call. He couldn't explain why he felt it was so important to personally thank all the people who had had a hand in saving Illya's life. Maybe it was residual guilt over the fact that *he* should have been the one to drag Illya out of the fire rather than a bunch of faceless strangers. Perhaps it was for that reason that he felt the need to put faces to them...to thank them all in person.   
  
"We were just doing our job," said Williams, the firefighter who had carried Illya from the flames. "Go in, get people out. All in a days work. Your buddy was mighty lucky though. Nearly missed him on the first sweep there was so much smoke there. Only Curtis here," he indicated the firefighter sitting next to him at the table. "He swore he heard some sort of beeping noise so we figured we'd better take another look."  
  
"A beeping noise?" Napoleon blinked. "It wasn't...did it sound like this?" Pulling out Illya's communicator he activated it making it beep.  
  
"Hey that's a neat trick," commented Curtis. "But yeah, that's it. Man I could barely hear it above the flames but it just kept beeping away until I nearly tripped over your pal all huddled up in a corner."  
  
"If it hadn't a been for that, we'd have probably never found him," commented Williams. "What is it anyway, some kind of smoke alarm?"  
  
"We would have found him eventually," said Chief Stevens firmly. "My men don't leave people behind. This little toy," he waved almost dismissively at the communicator. "Well it probably got them to him a few minutes quicker, but they'd have found him, you can be sure of that."  
  
"I am sure," said Napoleon as he stood to leave. "And I'm profoundly grateful that you did. I guess I just wanted to make sure that you knew that."  
  
Chief Stevens finally cracked a smile, "Not many people remember us after the crisis is over. Or rather, they don't want to remember us...not until the next time they need us."  
  
"Well I won't forget you, any of you," said Napoleon. "And I've one more person to thank...one of the police officers who was there."  
  
-----------------------  
  
Napoleon stopped by the burnt out building on his way to the local police station. He shuddered involuntarily at the sight of the blackened walls, every smear of smoke and trace of water damage another reminder of just how lucky he and Illya had been to survive.   
  
To Napoleon's surprise however, Officer Clancy proved more difficult to locate than any of the other rescuers. The clerk at the nearest station house was unable to help him. "I'm sorry Mr. Solo, but I have a record of every officer who attended that call, and there's nobody called Clancy among them."  
  
"Maybe he was on his way off duty and just stopped to help out," suggested Napoleon.   
  
The clerk shook his head; "We don't even have an officer by that name. Look, I'll check some of the neighboring precincts. Maybe one of their men was there."  
  
"Thank you," said Napoleon, his eyes wandering round the station house. A small display of pictures in a corner caught his eye and he strolled over to take a closer look. Right in the middle was a photo of his rescuer of the previous night with the name 'Sergeant Frederick Clancy' written below it.  
  
"Hey," said Napoleon, a trace of puzzlement in his voice. "I thought you said you didn't have an officer named Clancy here?" He pointed to the picture.  
  
The clerk put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "I said we don't...not now anyway...the Sarge was on duty outside a burning building bout ten years ago...some guy runs inside, Sarge goes after him to try and save him...neither of them came out. That's why his photo's up there with all the other cops who've died on the line."   
  
Napoleon felt an eerie chill run down his spine as he looked at the photo.   
  
Without a word he turned and left the station  
  
Later, back at his apartment, Napoleon quickly poured himself a shot of bourbon and knocked it back. The fiery liquid burned a trail down his already raw throat and nearly made him sick, but had the benefit of settling his nerves. It had to be a mistake he told himself...surely there was another cop from another precinct called Clancy...and looking exactly like an officer who had died ten years earlier.   
  
Napoleon poured himself more bourbon but hesitated as he raised the glass to his lips.   
  
If it hadn't been for Clancy, he would have never made it out of the house alive...he would have never tried to contact Illya on the communicator...Illya would have been dead before the firefighters found him. With his free hand, Napoleon fumbled for the communicators and laid them gently on the counter beside the bottle of whisky. Did it matter how the chain of events had taken place, so long as the outcome had been to have Illya survive?  
  
"I don't believe in ghosts," Napoleon said out loud. "But whoever...whatever you are...thank you." Raising the glass to the empty air he said, "To Sergeant Clancy, wherever you are." As the liquid slid down his throat, Napoleon could have sworn he heard somebody say "You're welcome boyo. Just doing my job."  
  
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The End 


End file.
